This Juneteenth, BRIDGE Aims to Celebrate, Educate
The Exchange’s Building Resources in Diversity Growth of Employees (BRIDGE) Special Emphasis Program is celebrating Juneteenth this year with an online lunch-and-learn and a virtual cookbook, to which any Exchange associate can submit recipes.
From a historic pandemic to widespread social unrest, 2020 has seen more than its share of struggles.
But that’s not stopping the Exchange’s Building Resources in Diversity Growth of Employees (BRIDGE) Special Emphasis Program from celebrating and sharing black culture and history on June 19—also known as Juneteenth, the holiday marking the end of American slavery.
To mark the occasion, the group is helping all Exchange associates learn more about the black experience, a topic brought to the forefront of American discourse to a degree not seen since the Civil Rights era of the 1960s.
“For me, Juneteenth is a time to celebrate and educate one another about history and culture,” said BRIDGE Executive Champion Marla S. Randolph. “I don’t think we’ve ever been in a place where people are more open to listening and learning. 2020 has been a struggle for many reasons, but it’s also a chance to grow both individually and collectively.”
At noon CST on June 19, BRIDGE will host a virtual lunch-and-learn, titled “A Time to Reflect, A Time to Connect.” Randolph will moderate an interactive discussion on the history of Juneteenth, including trivia and prizes, a question-and-answer session, and more. BRIDGE Co-Executive Champion Denise Hunter will also take part in the event.
To further bring the Exchange family closer together for Juneteenth, BRIDGE is encouraging associates of all cultural backgrounds to submit their own personal and family recipes, which will be put into a virtual cookbook and shared with the workforce after Juneteenth. For more information and instructions on how to add recipes, click here.
“The virtual cookbook is a great way to encourage unity, especially for those of us who can’t be with family or friends right now due to the pandemic,” said BRIDGE Program Manager Judy Hathaway. “We can’t be with each other physically, but we can still be together virtually.”
Also known as Emancipation Day, Juneteenth Independence Day and Black Independence Day, the holiday celebrates June 19, 1865, the day Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston, Texas, and announced the end of slavery and the Civil War. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued 2 ½ years earlier, many slave owners continued to hold their slaves captive after the announcement, and Juneteenth soon became a symbolic date representing African-American freedom.
On Jan. 1, 1980, Juneteenth officially became a Texas holiday. Al Edwards, a freshman state representative, put forward the bill, H.B. 1016, making Texas the first state to grant this emancipation celebration. Since then, 45 other states and the District of Columbia have also declared it an official holiday.
“Juneteenth is a celebration, but it’s also about teaching our younger people who might not have learned that history,” Hathaway said. “We are bringing together everyone that makes up our Nation and those who make up our history to learn and grow together. The more we learn and the more we share, the greater the benefit for all.”
Like this year’s Juneteenth activities, membership with BRIDGE is open to associates of all races—the only prerequisite is a desire to learn.
“Everybody has a role to play,” Randolph said. “We all can do something. Not just in the workplace, but in our communities, in our churches—everywhere you communicate with people, you can do something. Everyone has the power to educate.”
Associates worldwide can sign up for Friday’s lunch-and-learn by clicking here and clicking the “Respond to Survey” button near the top of the page—250 participants will have access to the event on a first-come, first-served basis, however a video of the lunch-and-learn will be available to view after the event.
For more information about the history of Juneteenth, click here.
Questions about the BRIDGE program? Reach out to Program Manager Judy Hathaway (hathawayj@aafes.com) or Assistant Program Manager Renee Clark (clarkrm@aafes.com), or visit the EEODI portal to learn more. To become a BRIDGE member, click here and click the “Respond to this survey” button near the top of the page.
